Air register seal

ABSTRACT

A seal for covering or blocking airflow through a gap between a boot can and an access opening formed in a dry wall of a vent is disclosed. The seal may define inner and outer perimeter wherein the inner perimeter is disposable inside of a front edge of the boot can. The outer perimeter of the seal is disposable outside of an inner perimeter of an access opening formed in the drywall for the boot can. The seal may be compressible and have a thickness so that when an air register is mounted to the wall, floor or ceiling, the seal is pressed against (1) a backside of a border of the air register and (2) the front edge of the boot can and exterior surface of the wall, floor or ceiling to prevent flow of air between a room to be heated/cooled and an attic behind the boot can. Particulate matter in the attic is not disturbed when forced air is flowing through the system. Also, particulate matter from the attic is not blown into the room when the HVAC system is turned off. Also, airborne dust and particulate matter in the conditioned room does not flow into the attic or between the air register and the wall, ceiling or floor. The seal prevents black ghosting marks adjacent to the air register.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefits of U.S. Prov. Pat. App. Ser. No. 61/631,811 filed on Jan. 12,2012 and U.S. Prov. Pat. App. Ser. No. 61/716,870 filed on Oct. 22, 2012, the entire contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

STATEMENT RE: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a method and device for installing an air register to a vent for mitigating duct air leakage.

Best practices and codes may require HVAC contractors to seal ducts to prevent air leakage. Air leakage leads to energy loss. As a result, more and more cities and states require HVAC contractors to adhere to a minimum leakage amount in a duct. In order to prevent air leakage in a duct system, HVAC contractors have used various materials such as caulking,. The problem with caulking is that caulking will shrink over a period of time thereby initially providing leak protection but failing to provide leak protection over a long period of time. Moreover, caulking will cause the air register to be permanently adhered to the wall creating servicing problems downstream.

Forced air is routed from an air conditioning unit outside of the building structure to various rooms within the building structure. The forced air is routed through ducts and terminates at a vent in the room. The duct is terminated with a boot can and covered by an air register for proper distribution of air. Unfortunately, black ghosting marks develop on the wall, surrounding the air register. The black ghosting mark is believed to be due to soiled ducting.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a method and device for sealing an air duct and resolving the black ghosting mark adjacent to air registers.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A method and device for preventing air leakage in a duct system is described herein. The device is a seal disposed between (1) an air register and (2) a drywall and boot can through which forced air flows through to the room to be heated or cooled. The seal may be sufficiently thick so as to be compressed when the air register is mounted to the wall and forms a seal or blocks airflow through a gap between the boot can and the dry wall. The seal may have a flat, configuration defining an inner perimeter and an outer perimeter. The inner perimeter may be sized and configured so as to be disposable on an interior or inside a front edge of the boot can when mounted. The outer perimeter may be sized and configured so as to be disposable on an exterior or outside of an inner perimeter of an access opening in the dry wall for the boot can. When the seal is disposed between the air register and the drywall/boot can, the air register pushes the seal against the exterior surface of the drywall and the front edge of the boot can to cover the gap and form an airtight seal to prevent airflow through the gap between the boot can and the drywall. In this manner, energy loss is minimized and particulate matter in the attic behind the boot can is not agitated when the HVAC system is on. When the forced air is turned off, airborne particulate matter and dust in the conditioned room does not flow between a border of the air register and the drywall thereby preventing unsightly ghosting marks. Conditioned air remains in the conditioned room. Air in the attic remains in the attic.

More particularly, a method of installing an air register to a vent to mitigate air leakage and black ghosting marks is disclosed. The method may comprise the steps of providing a compressible seal having a ring configuration, the compressible seal defining an inner perimeter and an outer perimeter; disposing the seal against an interior side of the air register; aligning the air register to a boot can of the vent; aligning the outer perimeter of the seal outside of an inner perimeter of an access aperture of the surface for the boot can; aligning the inner perimeter of the seal inside of a front edge of the boot can; compressing the seal between (1) the front edge of the boot can and the surface and (2) the interior side of the air register; and mounting the air register to the surface with an outer perimeter of the air register outside of the inner perimeter of the access aperture of the surface.

The method may also further comprise the steps of inserting screws into apertures formed in a border of the air register; and screwing the screws into the seal to hold the seal against the interior side of the air register.

The surface may be a vertical wall, ceiling or floor. The surface may be an exposed side of a dry wall. The compressible seal may have a flat configuration.

In another aspect, a method of sealing a gap between a boot can of a vent and an inner perimeter of an access opening in a surface for the boot can is disclosed. The method may comprise the steps of removing an air register from the vent; disposing a compressible seal, having a ring configuration against an interior side of the air register; aligning the air register to the boot can of the vent; aligning an outer perimeter of the seal outside of an inner perimeter of the access aperture of the surface; aligning the inner perimeter of the seal inside of a from edge of the boot can; compressing the seal between (1) the front edge of the boot can and the surface and (2) the interior side of the air register; and mounting the air register to the surface.

In the method, the step of aligning the enter perimeter of the seal may include the step of cutting the compressible seal to size. The step of aligning the inner perimeter of the seal may include the step of cutting the compressible seal to size.

The method may also further comprise the steps of Inserting screws into apertures formed in a border of the air register; and screwing the screws into the seal to hold the seal against the interior side of the air register.

In another aspect, a seal for an air register to prevent air from flowing into a gap between an inner perimeter of an access opening in a surface and a front edge of a boot can disposed within the inner perimeter of the access opening is disclosed. The seal may comprise a compressible flat material defining inner and outer perimeters and a thickness. The inner perimeter may be disposed inside of a front edge of the boot can. The outer perimeter may be about 1 inch larger than the inner perimeter so that the outer perimeter is outside the inner perimeter of the access opening of the surface for the boot can. The thickness of the seal may be sufficient to compress and push against the front edge of the boot can, surface and a border of the air register when the air register is mounted to the wall to form a seal with the surface and the front edge of the boot can.

The inner perimeter and the outer perimeter of the seal may have a general rectangular configuration. The outer perimeter of the seal may be between about 14 inches by 14 inches to 6 inches by 6 inches. The inner perimeter of the seal may be about 1 inch smaller than the outer perimeter. The thickness of the seal may be about ⅛ inch to ¾ inch. The inner perimeter of the seal may have a notch to accommodate a lever of the air register.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features and advantages of the various embodiments disclosed herein will be better understood with respect to the following description and drawings, in which like numbers refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of an air register mounted to a wall;

FIG. 2 is a top cross-sectional view of the air register mounted to the wall shown in FIG. 1. with an HVAC system turned on to force air through the air register and illustrating backflow of air into an attic between a gap between a boot can and a drywall which agitates particulate matter in the attic;

FIG. 3 is a top cross-sectional view of the air register mounted to the wall shown in FIG. 1 with the HVAC system turned off illustrating air and the agitated particulate matter flowing back into a room through the gap between the boot can and the drywall;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a seal disposable between the air register and the dry wall/boot, can for sealing the gap between the boot can and the drywall;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the air register being mounted to the wall;

FIG. 6 is a top cross-sectional view of the air register, boot can and drywall with the seal shown m FIG. 5 installed between the air register and the wall; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of installing the seal to cover the gap between the boot can and the drywall to prevent migration of air and particulate matter through the gap.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to FIGS. 1-3, an air register mounted to the wall is shown. The air register forces air into a room after being conditioned by an HVAC system. FIG. 2 illustrates the flow of air from the HVAC system through a duct and boot can. The louvers and opening of an air register are smaller than the boot can. As a result, the forced air at the border of the air register is reflected back through a gap between the drywall and the boot can. The gap leads to the attic of the building structure. Moreover, due to this airflow, a venturi effect is created suctioning air from the room between the outer border of the air register and the drywall into the gap and ultimately back into the attic. The air in the room which contains airborne particulate is forced between the outer border of the air register and the drywall. Black ghosting marks develop around the circumference of the air register on the wall due to the airborne particulate in the air. By forcing air to flow into the attic, dust and particulate master in the attic is also agitated and becomes airborne.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the HVAC system is turned off, air in the attic migrates through the gap and back into the room because hot air migrates to colder temperatures. Unfortunately, the agitated particulate matter which is now airborne in the attic also flows through the gap and into the room. The unconditioned air in the attic migrates into the conditioned room. For example, if the conditioned room is being cooled, the hot air in the attic heats the cooled conditioned room as the unconditioned air in the attic migrates into the room.

Referring now to FIG. 4-6, a seal 10 is shown which may be disposed between (1) a drywall 12 and a front edge 14 of a boot can 16 and (2) an air register 18 to block a gap 20 between the boot can 16 and the drywall 12. By doing so, conditioned air 22 forced through the air register 18 and into a room 24 is not deflected back behind the drywall 12 and into the attic 26 which would agitate particulate matter. Also, no venturi effect is created between the border of the air register and the wall. Air in the room with airborne particulate matter is not forced between the border of the air register and the wall thereby preventing black ghosting marks. Rather, the conditioned air 22 proceeds fully into the room 24. When the HVAC system 28 is shut down, air in the attic 26 does not flow into the room 24. Rather, the seal 10 blocks the gap 20 so that air and airborne particulate matter, if any, does not flow through the gap 20 and the air register 18 back into the room 24. Accordingly, the seal 10 and the method of installing the seal 10 discussed herein mitigate air leakage to keep hot or cold air in the room 24 and to prevent migration of airborne particulate between the room and the attic which may cause black ghosting marks.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the seal 10 may have a generally rectangular configuration. Although a rectangular configuration is shown and described herein, the seal 10 may have other configurations such as circular in order to fit around a circular grill 30 of the air register 18 or square to fit around a square grill 30 of the air register. The seal 10 may define inner and outer perimeters 32, 34 and a thickness 36. The inner perimeter 32 may snugly fit around the grill 30 of the air register 18, as shown in FIG. 5. The Inner perimeter 32 may have a corresponding size and configuration compared to the grill 30 so that the seal 10 may be disposed about the grill 30 but not visible when the air register 18 is mounted to the drywall 12, The inner perimeter 32 may be about 1 inch smaller than the outer perimeter. The inner perimeter 32 may optionally have a notch 38 to receive and accommodate a lever 40 for actuating adjustable louvers 42.

Moreover, the inner perimeter 32 may be smaller than the front edge 14 of the boot can 16. In this manner, when the air register 18 is mounted to the drywall 12, the front edge 14 of the boot can 16 pushes into the back surface 52 of the seal 10 and forms an airtight seal therewith.

The outer perimeter 34 may have a rectangular configuration. However, other configurations are also contemplated such as circular and square. By way of example and not limitation, the outer perimeter 34 may be between about 14 inches by 14 inches and 6 inches by 6 inches. These are typical ranges and the outer perimeter may be larger or smaller than the stated range based on the actual air register. The outer perimeter 34 may be slightly smaller so that the outer perimeter 34 is disposed inside an outer perimeter 44 of the air register 18 so that the seal 10 is not visible when the air register 18 is mounted to the drywall 12. Additionally, the outer perimeter 34 of the seal 10 is larger than an inner perimeter 62 of an access opening 60 for the boot can 16. As such, the back surface 52 of the seal 10 pushes against the exterior surface 50 of the drywall 10 when the air register 18 is mounted to the drywall 12. An airtight seal is formed between the seal 10 and the drywall 12.

The outer peripheral portion of the air register 18 has an in turned lip 46. The in turned lip 46 defines a depth 48. The thickness 36 of the seal 10 is preferably greater than the depth 48 so that the seal 10 pushes against an exterior surface 50 of the drywall 12 when the air register 18 is mounted to the drywall 12. Accordingly, the in turned lip 46 does not prevent the seal 10 from being compressed between (1) the air register 18 and (2) the drywall 12 and front edge 14 of the boot can 16. That compression forms an airtight seal between the back surface 52 of the seal 10 and the exterior surface 50 of the drywall 12.

The front surface 54 of the seal 10 pushes against a backside 56 of the border 58 of the air register 18. In this manner, an airtight seal is also formed between the seal 10 and the border 58 of the air register 18.

When forced air 22 is blown through the boot can 16 by the HVAC system 28, the forced air 22 proceeds through the air register 18 and is not diverted back into the attic 26 through gap 20 between the boot can 16 and the drywall 12. Also, no venturi effect is created between the air register and the drywall. Air in the room which contains airborne particulate matter does migrate between the border of the air register 18 and the drywall 12. Moreover, since forced air 22 is not diverted into the attic 26, dust and other particulate matter in the attic 26 is not stirred up and does not flow back into the room 24 when the HVAC system 28 is turned off. Rather, the air and dust and particulate matter in the attic 26 remain undisturbed. When the HVAC system 28 is shut down, hot or cold air within the attic 26 does not flow into the room 24 through the gap 20. The unconditioned air in the attic 26 remains in the attic 26 and does not migrate into the conditioned room 24. Rather, the air in the attic 26 and the particulate matter in the attic 26 remain in the attic 26. The seal 10 blocks the gap 20.

The seal 10 may be fabricated from a compressible material such as foam, rubber, neoprene, silicone or combinations thereof. Moreover, other types of material for the seal 10 are also contemplated so long as the seal 10 can form an airtight seal with the air register 18, the front edge 14 of the boot can 16 and the drywall 12. Additionally, the front and back surfaces 54, 52 of the seal 10 may be smooth to further facilitate formation of the airtight seal with the border 58 of the air register 18, the front edge 14 of the booth can 16 and the drywall 12.

To install the seal 10, the boot can 16 is positioned on a wall. The dry wall 12 is mounted to the frame of the wall around the boot can 16. The drywall 12 is cutout forming an access opening 60 so that the boot can 16 is accessible through the drywall 12. As shown in FIG. 5, the inner perimeter 62 of the access opening 60 for the boot can 16 is not straight and has an uneven gap 20 from the front edge 14 of the boot can 16. The width 64 of the seal 10 defined by the inner and outer perimeters 32, 34 is greater than the largest gap 20 between the inner perimeter 62 of the access opening 60 for the boot can 16 and the front edge 14 of the boot can 16. As such, when the seal 10 is disposed between the air register 18 and the drywall 12/boot can 16, the seal 10 provides an airtight seal so that forced air 22 does not backflow into the attic 26 behind the drywall 12 and does not agitate particulate matter in the attic 26. No venturi effect is created. Also, unconditioned air in the attic 26 does not flow back into the conditioned room 24.

Referring now to FIG. 7, the method of installing the air register 18 includes the stop of providing 100 the seal 10. The seal 10 Is disposed 102 about the grill 30 of the air register 18 and against an interior side of the air register 18. Screws 64 may be inserted 104 through screw apertures formed in the border 58 of the air register 18 to hold the seal 10 in place while mounting the air register 18 to the wall. In particular, the boot can 16 may have two tabs that extend outward and are aligned to the screw apertures for engaging the screws 64. When the screws 64 are inserted 104 through the screw apertures of the air register 18, the screws 64 are also threaded through the seal 10 to hold the seal 10 in place when positioning the air register 18 to the boot can 16. Other means for holding the seal 10 in place on the border 58 of the air register 18 are contemplated such as adhesive, under sizing the inner perimeter 32 to the louvers 42 and grill 30 of the air register, or mechanical fastener.

The screws 64 inserted into the border 58 of the air register 18 are then engaged to the two tabs of the boot can 16. As the screws 64 are tightened onto the two tabs, the outer perimeter 34 of the seal 10 is aligned 106 outside of the loner perimeter 62 of the access opening 60. The inner perimeter 32 of the seal 10 is aligned 108 to the inside of a front edge 14 of the boot can 16. As the screws 64 are tightened onto the tabs, the backside 56 of the border 58 of the air register 18 pushes 110 the seal 10 Into the exterior surface 50 of the drywall 12 and into the front edge 14 of the boot can 16 thereby forming a seal 10 over the gap 20 between the boot can 10 and the drywall 12 to prevent backflow of forced air 22 into the attic 26. Also, no venturi effect is created between the border of the air register and the wall so that air in the conditioned room which has airborne particulate matter does not flow therebetween. Also, the seal 10 prevents flow of air from the attic 26 and dust particulates through the gap 20 and the air register 18 into the room 24 when the HVAC system 28 is turned off.

The seal 10 may also be retrofitted into existing air registers 18. To do so, the air register 18 is removed from the wall. When removed, a gap 20 is shown between the boot can 16 and the drywall 12. A seal 10 may be pre-ordered for a particular air register 18. In the alternative, the seal 10 may be oversized and cut to size to fit the air register 18 and to cover the gap 20. To do so, the seal 10 is initially disposed on the backside 56 of the border 58 of the air register 18. The inner perimeter 32 of the seal 10 may be too small to fit around the louvers 42 of the air register 18. In this instance, the seal 10 is cut to enlarge the inner perimeter 32 to snugly fit around the louvers 42 of the air register 18. The outer perimeter 34 of the seal 10 may be oversized so that the outer perimeter 34 of the seal 10 extends outside of the outer perimeter 44 of the air register 18. The outer perimeter 34 may now be cut down to size so that the outer perimeter 34 is immediately inside the outer perimeter 44 of the air register 18. In this manner, the seal 10 covers the largest surface area behind the border 58 of the air register 18. When the air register 18 is placed back on the boot can 16 or wall, the seal 10 covers the gap 20 between the boot can 16 and the drywall 12.

The various aspects of the seal 10 have been described and shown in relation to an air register that is mounted to a vertical wall. However, the seal 10 may be utilized in other types of air registers such as square or circular air registers and air registers that are mounted to ceilings, vertical walls and floors.

In FIG. 6, the air register 18, seal 10, the exterior surface 50 of the drywall 12 and the front edge 14 of the boot can 16 are shown as not physically contacting each other. However, the spaces between these components have been shown to show air flow and identify the respective parts. When the air register 18 Is mounted to the wall, the front surface 54 of the seal 10 contacts the back side 56 of the border 58 of the air register 18 and forms an airtight seal therebetween. Also, the front edge 14 of the boot can 16 pushes into the back surface 52 of the seal 10 and forms an indentation as shown in FIG. 6. The seal 10 forms an air tight seal with the front edge 14 of the boot can 16. Also, the back surface 52 of the seal 10 contacts and forms an airtight seal with the exterior surface 50 of the dry wall 12.

The above description is given by way of example, and not limitation. Given the above disclosure, one skilled in the art could devise variations that are within the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed herein, including various ways of attaching the seal 10 to the back side 56 of the border 58 of the air register 18 (e.g. adhesive, mechanical fastening, etc.). Further, the various features of the embodiments disclosed herein can be used alone, or in varying combinations with each other and are not intended to be limited to the specific combination described herein. Thus, the scope of the claims is not to be limited by the illustrated embodiments. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of installing an air register to a vent of a surface to mitigate air leakage, the method comprising the steps of: providing a compressible seal having a ring configuration, the compressible seal defining an inner perimeter and an outer perimeter; disposing the seal against an interior side of the air register; aligning the air register to a boot can of the vent; aligning the outer perimeter of the seal outside of an inner perimeter of an access aperture of the surface for the boot can; aligning the inner perimeter of the seal inside of a front edge of the boot can; compressing the seal between (1) the front edge of the boot can and the surface and (2) the interior side of the air register; and mounting the air register to the surface with an outer perimeter of the air register outside of the Inner perimeter of the access aperture of the surface.
 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: inserting screws into apertures formed in a border of the air register; and screwing the screws into the seal to hold the seal against the interior side of the air register.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the surface is a vertical wall, ceiling or floor.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the compressible seal has a flat configuration.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the surface is an exposed side of a dry wall
 6. A method of sealing a gap between a boot can of a vent and an inner perimeter of an access opening in a surface for the boot can, the method comprising the steps of: removing an air register from the vent; disposing a compressible seal having a ring configuration against an interior side of the air register; aligning the air register to the boot can of the vent; aligning an outer perimeter of the seal outside of an inner perimeter of the access aperture of the surface; aligning the inner perimeter of the seal inside of a front edge of the boot can; compressing the seal between (1) the front edge of the boot can and the surface and (2) the interior side of the air register; and mounting the air register to the surface.
 7. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of aligning the outer perimeter of the seal includes the step of cutting the compressible seal to size.
 8. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of aligning the inner perimeter of the seal includes the step of cutting the compressible seal to size.
 9. The method of claim 6 further comprising the steps of: inserting screws into apertures formed in a border of the air register; and screwing the screws into the seal to hold the seal against the interior side of the air register.
 10. A seal for an air register to prevent air from flowing into a gap between an inner perimeter of an access opening in a surface and a front edge of a boot can disposed within the inner perimeter of the access opening of the surface, the seal comprising a compressible flat material defining inner and outer perimeters and a thickness, the inner perimeter of the seal being disposable inside of a front edge of the boot can, the outer perimeter being about 1 inch larger than the inner perimeter so that the outer perimeter is outside the inner perimeter of the access opening of the surface for the boot can, the thickness being sufficient to compress and push against the front edge of the boot can, surface and a border of the air register when the air register is mounted to the wall to form a seal with the surface and the front edge of the boot can.
 11. The seal of claim 10 wherein the inner perimeter and the outer perimeter have a general rectangular configuration.
 12. The seal of claim 11 wherein the outer perimeter is between about 14 inches by 14 inches and 0 inches by 6 inches.
 13. The seal of claim 12 wherein the inner perimeter is about one inch smaller than the outer perimeter.
 14. The seal of claim 11 wherein the thickness Is between about ⅛ inch and ¾ inch,
 15. The seal of claim 11 wherein the inner perimeter has a notch for a lever of the air register. 